I have been a complainer this week, LORD,
I pour out my complaining at Your feet LORD,
Fill me up with thanksgiving...
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Those of you who were involved in our summer MASTER FULL MOMS or read this blog during the summer know that we are making every effort to daily pour ourselves out and ask GOD to fill us up (Be-Attitudes 1,2,3,4).
Do you find your faith giving way to fear, frustration, despair, stress, and the like? I love how 2 Corinthians 4:7-5:1 puts it:
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"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from GOD and not from us. 8 We are:
- hard pressed on every side, but not crushed
- perplexed, but not in despair
- persecuted, but not abandoned;
- struck down, but not destroyed
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We always carry around in our body the death of JESUS, so that the life of JESUS may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for JESUS' sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the LORD JESUS from the dead will also raise us with JESUS and present us with you in His presence. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of GOD.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
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Today, I want to share my gratitude with you for three spiritual leaders, two male and one female:
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Dan Cooper and my husband, Steve, are the ministers / preachers of the Pitman church of Christ, Pitman, NJ. They share their responsibilities, including the Sunday sermons, as they serve with mutual respect and gratitude for each other. They spend alot of time in prayer about what series of sermons to do next. Their new series on The Book of JAMES started on Sunday. I'm grateful how Dan outlined it for us. It certainly illustrates how FAITH requires "pouring it out".
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Dan's Outline of James:
- JAMES 1 teaches that FAITH when strained, shouldn't snap, but PRODUCE PERSEVERANCE.
- JAMES 2 teaches that when FAITH is squeezed, it doesn't stumble, but responds with SOLID WORKS.
- JAMES 3 teaches that when FAITH is exposed, it doesn't explode, but produces a GENUINE EXAMPLE.
- JAMES 4:1-5:6 teaches that when FAITH is tested, it doesn't tumble, but PATIENTLY TRIUMPHS.
- JAMES 5:7-20 teaches that when FAITH is frustated, it doesn't worry, but respond with PRAYERS, PATIENCE, AND PRAISE.
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I am so thankful for the way these two men model The BOOK OF JAMES. We hear their sermons and then see them in action! We're even beginning to see a little of their writings on their newly formed blogs at http://www.cochrist.org/
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Each week, on GRATITUESDAY, I want to connect you with someone who I am grateful for and who also shares love and encouragement on her own blog. She has been a friend and mentor of mine since the early 1970's. The woman that I have chosen today to give the SHARING THE LOVE award to is a:
- wonderful widow
- gracious giver
- teachers teacher
- modeling mentor
- transformed mom
- missionary's missionary
- faithful friend of Jesus Christ
- deep Dottie
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If you want to go to a blog that you can sink your teeth into, that's written by a fearless faithful "older sister", and leaves you thinking...then this is your blog. Dottie doesn't post very often, but when she does, it is rich. I am grateful today for the life and ministry of Dottie Schulz. Tom and Dottie had such a powerful prayer life that when Tom had cancer and knew he might not make it into the next century, he prayed that he would. Want to know what day Tom went on to be with the LORD? Dottie called to tell us on New Years Day 2000. (Sometime real soon, I'll share with you some Tom and Dottie stories). Ready to go deep? http://missionarysmissionary.blogspot.com/
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THIS WEEK'S LINKS:
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First Link to FIND US FAITHFUL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSa6rqZbp9c&feature=related.
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Second Link to FIND US FAITHFUL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7ZwVuO7duw
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Link to Laura Coppingers GRATITUESDAY blog...spend some time sharing in thanksgiving:
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Link to SHARING THE LOVE at:
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4 comments:
Great post! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for you prayers! One very cool story about the prayers which were offered up today. Matthew, my husband had to be at the hospital at 8:15 for the surgery he was going in for. They started him on fluids and I got hang with him until they wheeled him up. I was nervous about the day and just kept praying. As they wheeled Matthew away I was finally at peace about the surgery and was totally calm from then on out. We got home at about 4 pm. I looked at my phone and I had a missed call and voice mail from a gal at church (B.P.) Don't want to use her name just in case she would prefer not to be listed on the web. She was leaving a message to let us know she was thinking of us and then she prayed into the phone. Her prayer was for M's surgery, that he wouldn't have too much pain and that I would have peace. Do you know that at about the time she was praying into my voice mail was about the time that I finally had peace about this surgery. Did that give you goose bumps or as they say in Hawai'i - chicken skin? So God was definitely present in that hospital today thanks to all of you who prayed and trusted. Thank you for you prayers and thank you for your calls.
Dottie is one of a kind...a wonderful woman. I didn't know SHE had a blog! Thank you for her link!
They sound like some amazing leaders and friends! I'm going now to check out your friend's site. Have a blessed day!
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